SmartOmi Boots Mini: A Truly Wireless pair of Headphones for Under $100

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If you’ve been looking for a pair of truly wireless headphones, chances are you’ve seen some of the brands that are available out there but were scared away by the outrageous prices. But there’s hope as a company by the name of SmartOmi wants to take down the competition with their SmartOmi Boots Mini earbuds.

Available currently on Amazon for $72.99, the SmartOmi boots Mini are a pair of truly wireless headphones that I’ve been using the past few weeks both at work and in the gym that I think are a great bargain for what you get.

The wire-free headphones are not only affordable but at a price of under $100 the audio quality isn’t half bad. Granted I still believe that the Jabra Elite Wireless Earphones are the best truly wireless headphones I’ve ever used, at this price, dare I say that these are great if you need a pair of headphones that will simply get you through a few hours at work, or through that strenuous workout in the evening.

There wasn’t much to unbox as the SmartOmi Boots came in a simple case that just included the earbuds, their docking station, an instruction manual and a microUSB cable for charging. It’s worth noting that these headphones do not have wireless charging present which means you can’t just throw these in your bag and keep on going so they will require charging as you would your smartphone after a workout.

Also since the earbuds are docked to charge and not encased, chances are they may fall off the dock while in your gym bag or purse, so if I were you, I would put them in a separate pocket of your bag just make sure they are together.

But SmartOmi does promise up to five hours of battery with over 200 hours of standby which is actually pretty decent. But I’m a bit of a critic, especially after being scorned before by earphones that dub themselves “truly wireless” so I had to put these to the test. As always I put all of these wireless earphones up to six tests:

  1. Single Earbud Listening

Well you’ll be happy to know that the single earbud listening experience can be had by the SmartOmi boots. This is ideal when you’re at your desk and have to often take a phone call or two, or listen to your surroundings. I prefer to use the right ear for single ear testing, but I experienced no drop offs of audio quality regardless of which ear I decided to use.

  1. True battery Life testing (where I take the headphones fully charged, sit them on my desk at work, and play music through them until they die while timing the effort.

A bit of a downer here as SmartOmi promises five hours of battery life for their earbuds, and the closer I got to that was four hours and 11 minutes of music prior to the headphones actually dying out. Now I know that they say “up to”, and that’s vital in terms of giving a description of wireless headphones to a customer. Obviously, your experience may vary in the way you listen to your music, but using continuously for the allotted time, I only received that amount before it died [without a “battery low warning” at that.

  1. Sweat Test – We all sweat at the gym and it’s good to know that these earbuds will stay in after a long workout, be it cardio or weightlifting.

I have to admit, I was VERY surprised by the sweat test. Not only did they withstand a two-hour gym session, but I actually ended up forgetting they were in my ear for a period of time. After leaving the gym and pausing my music, it hadn’t dawned on me that the headphones were still in my ear until I looked in my gym bag and the headphones weren’t on the dock. But during the actual workout, the headphones never got choppy or dropped connection, and what’s more, they didn’t build up a host of earwax in the tips which was an added bonus.

  1. Movement Test – I started doing this after seeing plenty of reviewers of Airpods shaking their heads to see if the Airpods would fall out, so it only made sense to incorporate this into the test

In terms of movement, you can actually refer to #3 as I was able to move comfortably, even to the point of forgetting they were in my ears.

  1. Audio Isolation – Testing to see how isolate sound can be while in your ear. Can you hear your surroundings? Can you hear the person next to you?

Since the SmartOmi boots don’t have active noise cancellation, I wasn’t truly amazed by these. Sure at high volume you won’t hear outside noise, but on a crowded train, I could still hear the elements and people around me (albeit muffled). This is a gift or curse depending on who likes that option.

  1. Music Playlist – Testing with a variety of sounds from Daft Punk to Chance The Rapper to Adele, I put headphones through a simple test. Is the audio bad or good essentially?

This would’ve been number one, but I always save the best for last. Using Spotify as my main source of music listening, I can say the SmartOmi gives a modest listening experience at its price. At the gym I like my music to be up tempo and bass-heavy, and with these headphones, the audio obviously didn’t sound like those $300+ headphones, and I was not expecting them too, but there was something different about the actual audio quality. I’m not sure if it’s because the earbuds form a pretty secure seal around your ear canal while listening, but when paused, or even at lower volumes, you can hear head movements and gestures which might sound odd but is bothersome to me.

In terms of the secure seal, though, SmartOmi did reach out and let me know this is because the earbuds are actually IPX7 waterproof. This means if you shower after a swim, you can wear them in your ear, or if you swim you can immerse them in up to 3 feet of water for thirty minutes. Now I don’t know exactly what kiddie pool people swim in for thirty minutes, but it’s nice that they included the IPX7 rating for their headphones.

Despite the few negatives, though, I maintain getting quality phone calls, even better audio, and all of this for less than $100 from a product on Amazon. SmartOmi is onto something and if you’re not one to spend hundreds on earbuds but want a truly wireless experience without breaking the bank… the SmartOmi boots are the way to go.

 

Update: Currently, SmartOmi is running a special on their Bluetooth Boots earbuds and if you use the code “RQRCW6NC” you will receive 15% off your order. This is a steal deal!

For more information on the SmartOmi Boots, head over to Amazon today [affiliate link].

Source: Manufacturer supplied review unit

What I Like: IPX7 waterproof; Comfortable in ear

What needs Improvement: Battery life varies; Not very bass heavy

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About the Author

Greg Alston
Diehard Apple fanboy, and lover of all things tech. Born and raised in Washington, DC, Greg enjoys spending time with his wife, family, and friends, live sporting events, good bourbon, Tetris, and pizza. In that order.